Set attribute of an element using webdriver + python

Question

I am trying to automate uploading an image. The uploader is a Flash object and using AutoIt is not an option. So I am trying to work my way around this with just webdriver.

The idea is to 'set' the value attribute of the image uploader with a link pointing to an image saved on the server. My question is, is there a method to set the attribute of an element in webdriver? I know there is one to get value (get_attribute). I am using Python/Selenium.

The input field is:

input type="hidden" value="" name="allImages" id="allImages"

and I have tried:

image = wd.find_element_by_id("allImages")
image.value = "http://optimusprime/uploads/b31f8a31-9d4e-49a6-b613-fb902de6a823.jpg"

The script runs without error, but the attribute value is not set. Can anybody please point me to the right way of setting attributes? (if there is one)

Answer 1

I wrote a javascript snippet as follows after reading replies from the webdriver google group:

wd.execute_script("document.getElementById('allImages').value = '../uploads/b31f8a31-9d4e-49a6-b613-fb902de6a823.jpg';")

Or as Sam suggested in the comment:

image = wd.find_element_by_id("allImages")
wd.execute_script("arguments[0].value = 'foo.jpg';", image) 

Answer from the webdriver google group:

Using the "execute_script" method is the recommended approach in this case.

No, none in WebDriver, since it aims to imitate a user and a user cannot set attributes directly.